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Weekly Love Letter for March 14th

“My husband’s birthday was on Tuesday, so it’s been a fun week full of dinners with friends, gift wrapping, cooking and baking. I think I had more fun with his birthday this year than he did! He had to work late on Friday night, so I was left to my own devices for dinner and entertainment. I settled on sushi and a British period drama, Her Majesty Mrs Brown. I’d never seen it before, and I will say that it’s not my favorite movie. But no one plays a queen quite like Judy Dench.”

*One of the local imported food stores in Tokyo just happened to have Meyer lemons! I was dying for some, but never expected to find them here. Now the only problem is trying to decide what to do with them! Preserved for Moroccan food? Candied for this ridiculous salad? Cocktails? Vinaigrette? Argh, I should have bought more of them!

*It’s been an 18 month struggle to resist the urge to get into bento here in Japan, and I think I’m losing the battle. I mean, there’s adorable lunchbox stuff EVERYWHERE. I bought my husband a gorgeous 2-tier lunch box for his birthday and I just started a bento Pinterest board. It’s only a matter of time before I give in and start buying nori punches that make penguin faces, onigiri shapers that look like ghosts, and adorable plastic toothpicks with pandas on them. Part of that sentence is a lie. I already own 2 sets of the panda toothpicks.

*I was lamenting my inability to find a pom pom maker in Japan (I know, life’s tough, right?) when I saw this tutorial on how to make big pom poms using an embroidery hoop. I can find THOSE in Japan! I’m so excited; get ready for pom poms on everything.

“I’m so used to seeing succulents as tiny plants these days that I completely forgot they grew this way! My company was kind enough to gift us each a Welcome Home cactus plant in a tiny terracotta pot to celebrate our recent desk moves and I’ve taken it upon myself to nurture all the plants in my office. And they are growing like (ahem) WEEDS! Each pot is a slightly different variety and this one started out as a flowery-looking nub about an inch and a half wide. It’s a gorgeous tower now and looks like it’s about to sprout!

On Monday I started a new black and white photo class at a large darkroom facility near my office. I haven’t been in a darkroom for about 20 years and I’m thrilled to get some instruction to remind me how it’s done. Film is experiencing a resurgence and even though it took me years to embrace digital, I now fully believe there’s room for both. I’ll remember to share some of my shots here on A&C!”

* I LOVE maxi skirts and wear them often. I recently enjoyed this post about how to style them and am on the hunt for some tops that will work. Do you have any other tips? (P.S. I can’t find the original source of this image, but love it too.)

* We’ve linked to Nicole’s Classes quite a few times on this site, but we can’t help it- we love them! Their blog is full of great tips and tricks and sometimes a free printable or download. They’re running a St Patrick’s Day giveaway this weekend and giving away 7 free classes! Head over to their blog to enter!

Alyssa has been cooking, crafting and entertaining for as long as she can remember. She recently relocated from crazy Tokyo to the San Francisco Bay Area, but loves to travel all over the world. She's a little bit obsessed with cookbooks, whisky and stationary.